Socket primarily for radio valves and the like



Nov. 2, 1948. D. JACKSON 7 2,453,015

SOCKETS PRIMARILY FOR RADIO VALVES AND THE LIKE mm Sept. 25, 1946Inventor Dona/d Jackson 6 7Vo&mkl@&ob

Attorneys Patented Nov. 2, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SOCKETPRIMARILY FOR RADIO VALVES AND THE LIKE company Application September25,1946, Serial No. 699,238 In Great Britain August 23, 1945 -2 Claims.

This invention relates to sockets primarily designed as holders forradio valves and the like, which devices are commonly known as valveholders although such devices and devices of similar character are alsooften used as holders or sockets for coils, condensers and otherelectrical equipment. This invention provides a valve holder or likesocket of simple construction, which has few parts and has improved andsimple means for fixing the socket to a supporting plate or panel suchas a chassis or a radio or other electronic apparatus.

The socket according to this invention comprises a one-piece body ofinsulating material, preferably a moulding, having a'series 'ofpinreceiving contact elements disposed in apertures in the body, thelatter :being formed on one side with a series of bosses through whichthe apertures extend, which bosses are adapted to enter or fit in acorresponding series of apertures in a metallic supporting plate such asa panel or chassis, to which the contact-carrying body is directlysecured by a rivet inserted through a substantially central hole throughthe body and an aligned aperture in the supporting plate. The engagementoi the bosses with their apertures in the supporting plate locates thesocket against rotational displacement and the rivet firmly fixes thesocket to the plate. The bosses also provide adequate insulation betweenthe contact elements and the adjacent metal of the supporting plate. Thebosses may outstand from the body by approximately the thickness of thesupporting plate, so as to be substantially flush with the face thereofwhen the socket is fixed in position.

By piercing the metal of the supporting plate with only the describedapertures which are necessary for entry of contact pins into the socketand for receiving the fixing rivet, instead of making a large hole inthe plate to receive the socket, the metal of the supporting plate isretained between the contact elements by the present mode ofconstruction so that the supporting plate effectively screens the socketas a whole electrostatically and provides electrostatic screeningbetween adjacent contact elements. The rivet also serves as anelectrostatic screen between contact. elements arranged at oppositesides of the rivet.

The rivet is preferably hollow and adapted to serve as a locating guidefor receiving a guide spigot on the valve or other device to be pluggedinto the socket. The rivet may be adapted to make electrical connectionwith a valve spigot which is in electrical-connection with ametalenrvelope or other metal shield used. in the valve construction forearthing the same. The rivetreceiving hole in the insulating body andthe corresponding aperture in the metal supporting plate may be of anon-circular shape, e. g., a keyhole shape, to cooperate with asimilarly shaped spigot key on the valve or other device to ensure thatthe latter is plugged into the socket in the cor rect orientation. Thehollow rivet may be formed with a corresponding cross-sectional shape,or it may be of split character conforming only to part of the keyholeor like shape.

In order that the invention may be more fully comprehended and readilycarried into practice, an embodiment thereof will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a faceview of a fragment of supporting plate to which is fixed a socketexemplitying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the assembly depicted in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 shows in perspective the rivet and its spring collar utilised inthe assembly.

The illustrated socket has an insulating body H] which is shown as aplate of circular disc form, the body being made in one piece ofinsulating material such as a synthetic resin or like plastic, a ceramicmaterial, glass or other vitreous material. Preferably, the body ismoulded from a suitable plastic such as a polythene plastic. The body I0is formed with a ring of bosses H which outstand from its upper surfaceor face i2 (Fig. 3) by approximately the thickness of the metallicsupporting plate I3, and at the rear or lower surface Id of the body arealso formed a ring of bosses If: in aligmnent respectively with thebosses ll. Also, the body 10 is formed with a series of holes 16 (one ofwhich is more clearly seen in Fig. 3). which extend through thethickness of the body between its faces 12 and M and also through thebosses H and 15, with which the holes I6 are aligned. The holes I6respectively accommodate contact elements H which are suitably fixed inposition in the body. These contact elements may be of any suitable formand fixed in their holes in any suitable manner.

The contact elements shown are of a construction disclosed in mycopending application Serial No. 686,170 filed July 25, 1946 for Socketsprimarily for radio valves and the like. The contact elements I! providepin-receiving portions I8 housed in the holes 16 and positioned toreceive valve pins or other contact pins inserted into the socketthrough bosses ii, and terminal portions 19 which protrude throug thebosses These latter bosses assist in providing a good insulation spacingbetween the terminalv portions IQ of the contact elements, although thebosses l5 are not absolutely essential and may 1 e oniitted if desired.The insulating body it is further formed with a keyhole aperture iliitherethrough, comprising a cylindrical portion Eli concentricallyarranged within the ring of holes ill, and a slot 22 disposedeccentrically.

The metallic supporting plate it is pierced with. a ring of holescorresponding to the bosses i i and with a keyhole aperturecorresponding to the aperture 20. The insulating body ill carrying thecontact elements i'l is applied to one side of the plate i so that thekeyhole apertures in the plate and body are aligned and the bosses ii onthe body enter and snugly esponding Ht @119 C(Jl'lj holes in the plate,as depicted in Figs. 1 and 3, thereby locating the insulating body itagainst ro tation relatively to the plate l The body ill and plate itare secured together by a hollow rivet 28 which is inserted in theiraligned keyhole apertures. As best seen in Figs. 3 and 4, the rivetshown is of generally tubular form split longitudinally to provide aslot eX- tending the full length of the rivet. The rivet 23 has acylindrical portion 25 adapted to lit the cylindrical portion 25 of thekeyhole apertures in the body iii and plate l3. The portion 25 of therivet is terminated by a base flange and be yond the flange 2B the rivet23 has a further tubular portion 27 which is slit longitudinally atseveral places to form flexible tongues which are embraced by a springcollar 29 applied to the portion 21 of the rivet. The spring collar 28is formed with a slot fill which is aligned with the slot 24 when thecollar is fitted to the rivet. One of the tongues 28 is extended toprovide a terminal tag Si by which an electrical connection may be madedirectly to the rivet 23. The tag 3! is bent outwardly as seen in Fig.3, and traverses a recess 32 formed in the lower rim of the collar 29,thus locating the collar on the rivet with its slot 36 correctly alignedwith slot 24. The tag 3i is shown as extending from a tongue S58diametrically opposite the slot 24 of the rivet, the recess in thecollar being correspondingly disposed opposite the slot 353 of thecollar. However, this is merely one preferred disposition.

The rivet 23 fitted with its spring collar 29 is inserted from the rearor underside of the insulating body it! through the aligned keyholeapertures therein and in the plate l3 so as to bring the portion 25 ofthe rivet into the circular portion 2% of the keyhole aperture, theflange on the rivet being brought up against an annular seating 33recessed in the rear or lower face of the body Ill. The cylindricalwall. of the seating recess is made with a flat portion (Fig. 2) whichcooperates with a fiat portion of the periphery of the flange 26 tolocate the rivet against turning and to align the slot of the rivet withthe eccentric slot 22 of the keyhole aperture. After insertion of therivet, the rim of the portion 25 thereof is headed over against the faceof the plate 53, to iix the body it rigidly to the plate.

With the assembly described, the plate 5;? (which is customarilyearthed) forms an electro static screen over the socket as a whole, andalso screens adjacent contact elements from one arrother, owing to theretention or". portions of the metal of the plate covering the portionsof the face ii! of the body which lie around and between the bosses ii.The plate thereby serves to reduce inter-contact capacity. The rivet 28is earthed to the metal plate 53 through its riveting connectiontherewith, and therefore so ves to augment the screening and reductionof capacity be tween the contact elements.

The keyhole aperture in the socket and plate assembly is provided tocooperate with a similarly shaped spigot key on a valve or other deviceto ensure that the latter is plugged into the socket in the correctorientation, as is common practice. For valves employing a metalenvelope or shield used in the valve construction for electrostaticallyshielding the valve, and in which a metallic spigot key on the base ofthe valve is electrically connected with such envelope or shield forearthing the same, the rivet serves to earth metal envelope or shield bymaking conductive engage ment with the spigot he when the latter isplugged into the socket. The portion oi the rivet in conjunction withthe spring collar form a spring clip device for resiliently gripping theportion of the spgot key which mates with the por-- tion ill of thekeyhole apertures so as to ensure that the rivet makes a good mechanicaland electrical connection with the spigot.

The specific embodiment which has been de-- scribed above is gi' enmerely by way of example since many modifications be made in themechanical details. Accordingly, the herein contained description andillustration of a preferred embodiment are to be interpreted in anillus" trative, and not in a limiting, sense.

I claim:

1. A valve holder or like socket comprising a one-piece body ofinsulating material having a series of pin-receiving contact elementsdisposed in apertures in the body, the latter being formed on one sidewith a series of bosses through which said apertures extend, said bossesbeing adapted to lit in a corresponding series of apertures in ametallic supporting plate to which said body carrying said contactelements directly secured by a rivet inserted through a hole throughsaid body and through an aligned aperture in said plate, whereby saidbosses locate the socket against rotation relatively to said plate andprovide insulation between the contact elements and the adjacentsurrounding metal or" said plate, plate forms an electrostatic screen,over the socket as a whole and extending between adjacent contactelements, and said rivet is in conductive r connection with said plateand thereby augments such electrostatic screen.

2. A socket installation comprising, in combination, a metallicsupporting plate having a series of contact apertures in an annulararray around a guide aperture, a one-piece body of insulating materialapplied to one side of said plate and having a series of contactapertures and a guide aperture registering respectively with saidcontact apertures and said guide aperture in said plate, a series ofpin-receiving contact elements mounted within said contact apertures insaid body and having pin-receiving portions disposed to receivecooperating contact pins inserted through said contact apertures in saidplate, said body having on the side thereof adjacent said plate a seriesof bosses through which said contact apertures in said body extend andwhich project into said contact apertures in said plate to locate saidbody against rotation relatively to said plate, whereby said bossesprovide insulation between said contact elements and the ad acent 5surrounding metal of said plate and said plate forms an electrostaticscreen extending over the entire adjacent side of said body and betweenadjacent contact elements, a hollow metal guide member in saidregistering guide apertures for guidably receiving a spigot inserted insaid memher through said guide aperture in said plate, said guide membercomprising a rivet portion securing said body directly to said plate,whereby said guide member is in direct electrical engagement with saidplate and forms a continuation extending longitudinally between saidcontact elements of the electrostatic screen formed by said plate and aresilient portion at the end of said rivet portion remote from saidplate forming a spring clip adapted for resiliently and electricallyengaging such spigot.

DONALD JACKSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

0 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 890,770 Hubbell June 16, 19082,206,798 Woods July 2, 1940 10 2,259,738 Del Camp Oct. 21, 1941 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 558,114 Great Britain Dec. 22, 194%

